TEAM CHEVY NASCAR RACE ADVANCE: Richmond Raceway

BACK TO THE “ACTION TRACK”

Coming off wins in both the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) last weekend, Chevrolet’s drivers and teams will shift gears from the series’ longest road course circuit of Circuit of The Americas, to one of the series’ short-track staples of Richmond Raceway. The .75-mile, D-shaped oval will mark two-straight weekends of short-track competition for NASCAR’s two top series, with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) rejoining the action for a tripleheader event at Martinsville Speedway next weekend.

REIGNING AT RICHMOND

Chevrolet earned victories in all three NASCAR national series at Richmond Raceway last season – courtesy of wins by Kyle Larson (NASCAR Cup Series) and Chandler Smith (NASCAR Xfinity Series) in April, and Carson Hocevar (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) in July.

The Bowtie brand is the winningest manufacturer across all three NASCAR national series at Richmond Raceway – earning 40 NASCAR Cup Series victories, 29 NASCAR Xfinity Series victories and seven NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victories in the sport’s storied history at the “Action Track”.

In NASCAR’s top division, Speedy Thompson drove his self-owned Chevrolet team to the manufacturer’s first victory at Richmond Raceway in Sept. 1958. To date, 17 different drivers have contributed to Chevrolet’s series-leading 40 victories at the “Action Track” – most recently one year ago with Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson. Eight of the series’ active drivers have tallied a victory at Richmond Raceway, three of which come from the current Team Chevy driver lineup. Joining Larson on that list is his Hendrick Motorsports’ teammate Alex Bowman (one win), as well as the track’s winningest active driver Kyle Busch (six wins).

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1

NASCAR Cup Series win at Richmond Raceway

April 2, 2023

Chandler Smith, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Camaro SS NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Richmond Raceway

April 1, 2023

One year ago, Chandler Smith became a first-time NXS winner after piloting his Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to the victory at Richmond Raceway – bringing the Bowtie brand to its 29th all-time NXS triumph at the track. Of those wins, four have come in the series’ past five races at the track – including Smith’s win in April 2023, Noah Gragson in Sept. 2023 and a sweep in 2020 by Justin Allgaier. Chevrolet had a streak of strong showings in the early 2000s with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s victory in Sept. 2002 marking the start of 10 trips to victory lane within an 11-race stretch.

Chevrolet owns a winning percentage of nearly 50% in the NCTS at Richmond Raceway – with Carson Hocevar’s victory in July 2023 marking the manufacturer’s seventh victory in 15 races at the track. A much shorter history at the .75-mile Virginia short-track, the NCTS made its debut at Richmond Raceway in Sept. 1995 – an event won by Terry Labonte in a Hendrick Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet. The series went on to compete for 11-straight seasons, with Chevrolet earning six of its victories within that time span. Returning to the “Action Track” for the first time in 15 years in 2020, Hocevar took Chevrolet back to victory lane in the series’ regular-season finale last season.

Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Niece Motorsports Silverado

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win at

Richmond Raceway

July 29, 2023
 

SETTING A STREAK RECORD

Among its series-leading 40 NASCAR Cup Series victories at Richmond Raceway, Chevrolet also owns the record for the manufacturer with the longest streak of consecutive wins at the Virginia short-track. The record was set nearly 16 years ago after four different drivers earned a combined six-straight victories for Chevrolet at the “Action Track” – recorded from May 2006 to Sept. 2008. Seven-time NCS Champion Jimmie Johnson is credited with three of those victories, with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer also each tallying a triumph that lead to the Bowtie brand’s record-setting streak.
 

LARSON CONTINUES BUILDING SHORT-TRACK RESUME

In the NASCAR Cup Series’ spring date at Richmond Raceway last season, it was Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 team that took the victory – with the Team Chevy driver becoming the series’ sixth active driver to become a multi-time winner at the Virginia short-track. The victory started a string of strong short-track finishes for the former series’ champion, with Larson going on to claim his first grandfather clock at Martinsville Speedway just two weeks later. In the past seven points-paying races on tracks measuring less than one-mile, Larson has tallied finishes no worse than sixth in four of those events – most recently two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway when he earned his fourth-consecutive top-five finish on the track’s concrete configuration.
 

HILL, CHEVROLET REGAINS NXS POINTS LEAD

After taking the lead on the final lap at Circuit of The Americas, Team Chevy’s Kyle Larson put the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro SS in victory lane – delivering Chevrolet its third NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season. Larson led series’ regular Austin Hill to the finish at the 3.41-mile Texas circuit to give the Bowtie brand its first one-two finish of the season. Hill’s runner-up finish marked an impressive fifth-consecutive top-five finish – making him the series’ only driver to post a top-five result in every race thus far this season. Another strong outcome at the Texas circuit put Hill back on top of the series’ driver points standings – sitting at a nine-point advantage over second-place heading into the Richmond race weekend.
 

SEASON SUCCESS

With 16 total races complete, Chevrolet is the only manufacturer to own multiple wins in each of NASCAR’s three national series thus far this season. A pair of wins at Circuit of The Americas by Team Chevy’s William Byron (NCS) and Kyle Larson (NXS) brought the Bowtie brand to 11 combined wins across all three series – giving Chevrolet a winning percentage of 69 percent on the season. Byron and Larson’s victories last weekend took Chevrolet to four NCS wins and two NXS wins this season, with the manufacturer also earning four-straight victories in the NCTS.
 

BOWTIE BULLETS:

· With 16 races complete across NASCAR’s three national series this season, Chevrolet has a winning percentage of 69% with 11 victories (NASCAR Cup Series – four wins; NASCAR Xfinity Series – two wins; NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – four wins).

· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Richmond Raceway:

Kyle Busch: six wins (2018 sweep, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009)

Kyle Larson: two wins (2023, 2017)

Alex Bowman: one win (2021)

· In 134 NASCAR Cup Series races at Richmond Raceway, Chevrolet has amassed a series-leading 40 victories and 47 pole wins.

· Chevrolet recorded six consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victories at Richmond Raceway from 2006 to 2008 – a record for the longest streak of consecutive wins by a single manufacturer at the .75-mile Virginia oval.

· With William Byron’s win at Circuit of The Americas, Chevrolet has recorded wins in 18 of the past 23 NASCAR Cup Series road course races – eight of which have come in the Next Gen Camaro ZL1.

· Within the first three points-paying races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series races season, each Chevrolet organization had already recorded at least one top-10 finish.

· With its 42 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 855 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.
 

Manufacturer Points Standings

Chevrolet: 224
Toyota: 216 (-8)
Ford: 195 (-29)

Manufacturer Points Standings

Chevrolet : 188
Toyota: 184 (-4)
Ford: 153 (-35)

Manufacturer Points Standings

Chevrolet: 193
Toyota: 174 (-19)
Ford: 162 (-31)

TUNE-IN:

NASCAR Cup Series

Toyota Owners 400

Sunday, March 31, at 7 p.m. ET

(FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

NASCAR Xfinity Series

ToyotaCare 250

Saturday, March 30, at 1:30 pm. ET

(FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)
 

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 BUSCH LIGHT CAMARO ZL1

How technical is racing at Richmond?

“It’s can be frustrating to race there because you have to be so precise. If I’m going around the bottom, I try to put my left front tire and I try and put my left rear tire on the painted line because it has more grip than the asphalt. So you have to be super technical and get your car down on the line and attach the tires on top of that line and it’s kind of like a railroad track, it just pulls the car around the corner faster. Sometimes up to a mile an hour faster. Some tracks used to be that way like Atlanta and have more grip on the paint and some have less. To run on the bottom on that line you have to be very calm with the steering wheel, very calm with the pedal and just get the car down to that line to get through the corner.”

What do you think about racing at Richmond under the lights?

“Yes, give me lights. Give me a racecar on a short track under the lights at night. It’s just awesome. I wish, our cars don’t spark anymore but I do miss sparks. Now I don’t like my car to spark because that means its hitting the ground pretty hard but I miss watching cars sparking going around the race track.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1

What are your expectations for entering Richmond Raceway this weekend?

“I am looking forward to racing at Richmond Raceway with my No. 3 team under the lights. Richmond Raceway is one of the top short tracks in the country. It is a fast, fun track, and it can also be challenging for drivers to keep up with track conditions throughout the night as the rubber lays down and temperatures drop. It’s a track that we’ve been consistently good at over the years. Last summer we finished ninth. It is very difficult to keep the car balanced the entire time. In the beginning, I disliked Richmond Raceway for a long time, but as time passed, I have grown to enjoy racing there and have come to appreciate it.”

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 REBEL CAMARO ZL1

You have completed all but one lap in 36 Cup Series career at Richmond (14,428 of a possible 14,429 laps). How do you view that accomplishment?

“Well, it makes me mad that I missed out on that one lap. I see that accomplishment as a pretty cool stat that probably not a lot of drivers have at different racetracks. It makes sense considering that Richmond is probably one of my better statistical tracks on the circuit.”

Last July, you qualified third and finished second at Richmond, one of your better performances on a short track. Did you find something setup-wise in that race that will help you run well this coming weekend?

“We qualified second and finished third, and felt like we had some good ideas going into that race and they seemed to pay off and work well for us. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for some of the other short tracks we went to last year. We still have a lot of work to do.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

Bowman on racing at Richmond Raceway:

“It (Richmond Raceway) is really slick and really difficult to get a hold of- even when you’re fast. The fall race was rough on us last year (2023), but in the spring race we were pretty decent. Hopefully it will be more like the spring race (2023) for us. I feel like historically for Hendrick Motorsports when it’s cooler out, we’re better off. When it’s warmer out, we struggle. With this Sunday being a night race and cooler in the spring we should be a little bit better. I’ve also spent a lot of time in the sim trying to improve on things too.”

BLAKE HARRIS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1

Harris on racing at Richmond Raceway:

“It felt good to rebound at Bristol (Motor Speedway) and secure a top-five finish then have another great weekend at COTA (Circuit of the Americas) to kind of keep us in the mix competitively. I’m really happy with how our guys handled at those tracks. But, regardless of how good or bad the weekend went before, we know what we have ahead of us. As far as where Alex is, I’m happy with where he is physically and mentally- the whole team really. I think we needed a couple good finishes to kind of solidify all the hard work that our Ally team is putting in. You like to see that. We look forward to carrying that (momentum) to Richmond (Raceway).”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 QUAKER STATE CAMARO ZL1

Your Atlanta victory likely locked you into the 2024 playoffs. Do you think about that?

“Honestly I haven’t even thought about that. I haven’t even thought about the playoffs. We have a long way to go before the playoffs. In my mind, I don’t want to be one of those drivers that wins one race to get into the playoffs and that’s it. I don’t want to be part of that. The goal here is to do more than that; be strong in the regular season. I know that to be able to contend for the championship, you have to win three or more races, and that’s the goal for our team. The goal is to build a strong season where we have stage points and wins, so that when we get into the playoffs, we can say we made the playoffs but in a strong fashion. That’s the goal and everyone at Trackhouse Racing is working very hard to be able to deliver that.”

Does the victory at least give you freedom to gamble more on race strategy?

“It definitely gives us a lot more freedom. We want to gamble wisely. You don’t want to do just wild gambles and hope for the best, like a stage running long and hoping for things to just fall in your lap. But you can gamble a little bit in the setup and you can gamble a little bit on the strategy. You can push the limits a little bit harder in a few areas. I think it’s a very good thing.”

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